Skinning-knife



(No Mdel.)

J. E. MILLER. SKINN'ING KNIFE.

No. 431,233. Patented July 1, 1890.

ATTORNEYS I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES E. MILLER, OF SYRAOUSE, NEV YORK.

SKINNING-KNIFE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 431,233, dated July 1, 1890. Application filed April 21, 1890. Serial No. 348,807. (No model.)

T0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES E. MILLER, of Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga, in the State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Skinning-Knives, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates chiefiy toknives employed for skinning carcasses; and the object of the invention is to provide a knife which shall be adapted to be operated with the greatest facility and rapidity Without danger of scoring the hide; and to that end the invention consists of a Skinning-knife composed of a handle, two guard-blades extending from the end of said handle and 'disposed parallel side by side, the cutting-blade seated between the guards movably in the direction of its cutting-edge, and screws connected to the back of the guards and adj ustably sustaining the eutting-blade between said guards; and the invention also consists in certain peculiarities of the details of said knife and auxiliary devices connected therewith, all as hereinafter fully described, and specifically' set forth in the claims.

In the annexed drawings, Figure l is a plan view ofa knife embodying rny invention. Fig. 2 is a back view of the same. Fig. 3 is a plan View with one of the guardplates and a section of the handle removed. Figs. 4, 5, G, and 7 are transverse sections, respectively, on lines a: y y, .e z, and U U, Fig. l. Fig. 8 is a longitudinal section on line c e, Fig. 3; and Fig. 9 is a detached side view of the coupling-screw of the knife.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

A represents the handle of the knife, and B the cutting-blade thereof, which blade is of the usual form. To prevent said knife from scoring the hide in the process of removing the same from the carcass, I apply to opposite sides of said cutting-blade the two guards O C', which extend lengthwise of the blade and parallel with and in proximity to the cutting-edge thereof, allowing the latter to protrude from the guards only slightly and merely suflicient to allow it to cut. I preferably form said guards of thin metal plates and attach one of them rigidly to the inner side of one of the sections of the handle A, which is divided longitudinally and has its sections detachably united in any suitable manner, said iixed guard extending from the end of the handle, and upon the portion thereof from the handle to the free end of the guard C lies loosely the cutting-blade B,-

which is thus movable in the direction toward the cutting-edge, forthe purpose here inafter explained. The guard O lies upon the cutting-blade, and is secured to the guard O by a dowel-pin a, which passes through the two guards and through a notch inthe back portion of the cutting-blade, as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings. The back of the guard C is provided with a longitudinal rib h, and to this rib are .pivoted the latches c c, which are adapted to be turned, so as to bear upon the exterior of the guard O', asshown in Figs. 1 and 4 of the drawings.

The back portion of the cutting-blade E is provided with parallel diagonal slots d (l, through which pass coupling-pins e e, which, if desired, may be attached directly to the guards O O; but in order to render the eutting-blade adjustable in the protrusion of its cutting-edge from the guards I employ coupling-screws f f, which are disposed in lines parallel with the plane of the cuttingblade and pass through perforalions in the -rib l), and through nuts g g, conlined endwise between the back of the rib, and keepers 714 h, secured to said rib. The Shanks of said screws are slotted longitudinal, as shown in Fig. 6 of the drawings, and straddle the back portion of the cutting-blade, and through said shanks pass the coupling-pins e c, which also pass through the diagonal slots of the cutting-blade, as hereinbet'ore described.

To allow the cutting-blade B to be moved out from the guards sufficiently to alloriT the said blade to be sharpened when required, I employ the following devices in connection therewith. The inner side of one of the sections of the handle A, I form with a recess i, extending from the end adjacent to the cutting-blade nearly the entire length of the handle, as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, and from said recess through one side of the handle extends a longitudinal slot. In the IOO recess I place a longitudinally-inovable push bary, provided with a thumb-piece 7c, which projects through the aforesaid longitudinal slot, so as to be accessible on the exterior of the handle. To this push-bar ispivoted one end of a metallic strap Z, the opposite end of which is coupled to the cutting-blade B. By pushing the thumb-piece 7c toward the end of the handle adjacent to the guards C C and blade B the push-bar j, byl means of the strap Z, pushes the cutting-blade longitudinally, and the engagementof the couplingpins e e with the diagonal slots d d causes the said blade to move outward from the guards C C', as represented by dotted lines in Fig. 6 of the drawings.

In order to cause the blade B to automatically return to its guarded position, I employ retracting-springs s sin the recess 7l, which springs are connected at one end to the pivoted end of the strapl and at the opposite end to the screw-threaded yoke n, through which passes a screw o, swiveled in the end of the handle A. The outerl end of said screw is provided with a suitable head by which to turn said screw. By means of this screw the tension of the springs s s can be adjusted.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The improved Skinning-knife, consisting of a handle, two guard-plates extending from the end of said handle and disposed parallel side by side, the cutting-blade seated between the guard-plates, movable in the direction of its cutting-edge, and screws connected to the back of the guards and adjustably sustainin g the cutting-blade between said guards, as set forth and shown.

2. The combination, with the handle, of two guard-plates extending from the end of said handle and disposed parallel side by side, the cutting-blade seated between the guardplates, movable in the direction of its cuttingedge, and provided with diagonal slots in its back portion, and coupling-screws,connected to the back of the guards, adjustable longitudinally, and provided with pins extending through the aforesaid slots, substantially as described and shown.

3. The combination, with the handle, of two guard-plates extending from the end of the handle and disposed parallel side by side, the cutting-blade seated between said guards, movable in the direction of its cutting-edge, and provided with diagonal slots in its back portion, coupling-screws parallel with the plane of the cutting-blade and having shanks slotted longitudinally and straddling t-he back portion of the cutting-blade, pins passing transversely through the said shanks and through the slots of the cutting-blade, nuts on said screws, and keepers on the guardplates confining the nuts endwise, as set forth.

4. The combination, with the handle, of a guard-plate rigidly attached to and extending from the end of said handle, a guard-plate detachably connected to the stationary guardplate, and the cutting-blade seated between said guard-plates and sustained with its eutting-edge protruding from the edges of the guard-plates, as set forth.

5. The combination, `with the handle, of a guard-plate rigidly attached to and extending from the end of the handle and formed with a longitudinal rib along its back, the cuttingblade lying upon the said guard-plate and sustained with its cutting-edge protruding from the edge of said plate, a guard-plate lying removably upon the cutting-blade, a dowelpin passing through the two guard-plates, and latches on the rib of the stationary plate and adapted to bear on lthe exterior of the removable guard-plate, as set forth and shown.

G. In combination with the handle and guard-plates extending therefrom, the cutting-blade seated movablybetween the guardplates and provided with parallel diagonal slots, coupling-pins passing through said slots, and a push-bar movably connected to the handle and coupled to the cutting-blade, as set forth and shown.

7. In combination with the handle and guard-plates extending therefrom, the cuttin g-blade seated movably between the guardplates and provided with parallel diagonal slots, coupling-pins passing through said slots, a push-bar movably connected to the handle and coupled to the cutting-blade, and a spring in the handle retracting the push-bar, as set forth.

S. The combination of the handle divided longitudinally and provided with a recess in its interior and with a longitudinal slot in its side, guard-plates extending from the end of said handle, the cutting-blade seated movably between the guard-plates and provided with parallel diagonal slots, coupling-pins passing through said slots, a push-bar seated in the recess of the handle and provided with a thumb-piece projecting through the slot in the side of the handle, a strap pivoted to the push-bar and coupled to the cutting-blade, a screw swiveled in the end of the handle and extending into the recess thereof, a screwthreaded yoke connected to the inner end of said screw, and retracting-springs connected to said yoke and pivoted end of the strap, substantially as described and shown,

ln testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name this 19th day of April, 1890.

JAMES E. MILLER. [L s] Witnesses:

J. J LAAss, MARK W. DEWEY.

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